Finally can post here, now that my houseguests are gone. Vonnie and I were really good about not spoiling Katie all weekend.
I liked it: enjoyed it a lot. Cheered and sniffled in all the right places. But I do have quibbles.
- I assume the graininess and blueness of the first scenes (esp. Mal & Simon arguing about River) is going to be corrected, because it was so much in contrast with the brilliant clarity of the show on dvd. Threw me right out, and I'm not someone who notices cinematography much.
- Mal felt pretty off: he felt much more like the Mal from the original Firefly script that Fox insisted be lightened up. Or at least a Mal from before "Safe" and "Ariel". This Mal saw Simon and River as outside, not members of his crew, in a way that I don't buy in the aftermath of the 13-ep run, especially the end of "Objects in Space". Which is not to say he isn't justified in being angry at not knowing about River's fighting ability; but the way it was expressed really made him less likeable than we know he is.
- Simon personally rescuing River, which is entirely a retcon, IIRC.
- The Great Secret about Pax just felt really damned convenient. And the creation of the Reavers was a gimme, although -- how long ago did the Reavers start showing up? And how long has the Alliance been using that drug?
- The Single Solar System theory makes me crazy. Sure, it avoids the FTL drive problem, but the likelihood of finding a system with dozens of planets all in the same range of habitable space is pretty slim. Unless they're not all in the same plane, and that's even rarer. But then Joss and science were never close, anyway. I'd be happier if they took it out and left us thinking it was an interstellar network rather than a single solar system.
- The dialog pattern, particularly the funny bits, was patented Joss. So much so that after 7 years of Buffy and 5 of Angel it was kind of obvious. I like it, but I think he could do with pushing himself a little more, putting down that tool for a bit.
... wow, that's a lot of nits. I really did enjoy it: I was terribly happy to see them all again, and kick butt, and Wash's dinosaurs. And now that I think of it, of course Wash would die, because Joss never leaves a happy couple happy for long. They got 13 hours: that's more than Fred and Wes got.
I don't know how accessible this is going to be for anyone who hasn't seen the show. I am very unhappy about Book, because there was so much we didn't learn about him. Although I thought Ron Glass looked marvelous.
Consuela is me. Only better with words.
But you're much better with cats.
I'm sorry you didn't come on Saturday, Perkins -- we had a lovely time. (Which reminds me, must upload pics from camera.)
Plus, I'm the nice one. Just ask ita.
Me too, on the sorry I couldn't come. My hair appointment in Los Gatos lasted until after 11:00. (yes, I did spend 4 hours at a hair appointment), so by the time I got there, it would have been time to go.
Did you wind up with good hair?
I think so, though you wouldn't have guessed it from the way I looked on Sunday morning. I like the color, but I need to work on learning how to style it right.
Good hair is v. v. important. (And I thought you looked great Sunday.)
Thanks, Betsy, but Sunday was definitely a "I've spent 2 minutes on it, that's long enough" hair day. It looked much better on Saturday, and I am hoping I can get it close to that tomorrow.
Has anyone posted this? A shitload of reviews at AICN: [link]
I like this part of this review just because it is well written and says what a lot of us can relate to:
eta: x-posted with Firefly, as I just realized it's spoiler free.
It is so obvious that every scene in this movie was made with genuine passion for the material, that it makes me feel like my very minor complaints (which I'll go into in the spoiler section at the end) aren't even worth caring about.
Above all else, *that* is why I will tell you to see this movie. The passion. If you read this site, you're like me in some way. You love some aspect of fandom, you love some show, some comic, some movie, *something* enough to come here and read these reviews and flame each other in these talkbacks and speculate about casting decisions for movies that may never get made. You have felt this passion for something, and it's left its mark on you. And I'd bet that you've probably been let down at some point when something you felt so passionately about was handled badly. Whether it was a poorly-adapted novel, or a TV show that lost its way, or a promising concept that got focus-grouped apart and put through the wringer of the Hollywood process until the soul of it was bled dry and all that remained was the trappings of something you could have once loved. If you really care about the stuff that gets reported on this site, you probably know what that's like.
Well, that didn't happen here. There's a damn good reason why so many Firefly fans who've been to the preview screenings are raving about this movie. It's because this thing we feel so passionate about has been beaten down by the system and survived intact. The very existence of this movie is a big Fuck You to the shallow executives at Fox who tried to scuttle the series. It is a living testament to the power of fandom, an example of what can happen when word spreads and suddenly this thing that was written off by the people in power has a million advocates shouting its glories so loudly that they can't be ignored.
Fuck yeah.
